Let’s Talk About Bats
Learning from Bat Walks at Red Rock Canyon
By Victoria Koelkebeck | Illustrations by Cherry Jayne
Thanks to a happy accident, we ended up at the final bat walk of the season last October, hosted by the Southern Nevada Conservancy. While we didn’t get a close-up of any bats, we did walk away with a wealth of fascinating facts about our local bat population.
Let’s take flight into the world of these mysterious, leathery-winged wonders — battering away myths and uncovering the truth about our local night fliers.
Nevada is home to 23 species of native bats, but the following are the most commonly spotted in Red Rock Canyon:
Mexican Free-Tailed Bat
Little Brown Bat
Canyon Bat
Pallid Bat
Bugged by mosquitos? Bats munch through about 1,200 of them daily and can devour up to their body weight in insects. They save us an estimated billion bucks a year on pest control.
Clean freaks: Bats aren’t the dirty creatures they’re often thought to be. They spend half their day grooming — and it's not just for hygiene, but also to bond socially.
Flying high: Bats are the only mammals truly capable of flight.
No pet bats, please: It's actually illegal to keep bats as pets. They’re wild, not domestic.
Belly button alert: Yes, bats have belly buttons. They’re mammals, after all.
Rabies myth busted: Only a tiny fraction — half of one percent — of bats carry rabies. Sure, they’re on the vector scale, but most are not dangerous. Bats are best admired from a distance — leave them to roam the wild where they belong, untouched by human hands.
Bloodsuckers? Not so much: The only bats that crave blood are native to South America and they prefer cow cocktails — not human blood.
Not blind: Bats can see just fine, and in low light, their vision actually outshines ours. Their famous echolocation is just the cherry on top!
Mom's the word: Bat moms leave their babies in large colonies where thousands of little ones hang out. Before heading off, mom rubs her baby under her armpit so she can smell her baby when she returns.
Bat threats: Bats face big challenges like light pollution and white-nose syndrome, which disrupts hibernation and can lead to starvation.
Agave heroes: Bats are the sole pollinators of the agave plant which is responsible for tequila. Bottoms up.
Identify the four types of bats in Cherry Jayne’s illustrations in the comments below!
And then click here to attend the next bat walk!
Cherry Jayne is a Las Vegas-based artist specializing in bold and colorful digital illustration and multi-media artwork. She is heavily influenced by the local roller skate and music scene. You can find her artwork on many show and skate event flyers around Las Vegas!
